Dear Editor:

The Washington State Chapter of TeleHealth Access for Seniors has made immense strides since MLTnews publicized our effort last fall. Since May 2020, our team has donated 221 devices to elderly and low-income patients in the Greater Seattle Area! This would not have been possible without your assistance in helping us spread the word and the generous support we’ve received from the community. We wanted to remind the community that we are still looking for donations of smartphones and tablets for local patients struggling to access telehealth care.

TeleHealth Access for Seniors is a student-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit promoting equitable access to virtual healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are currently partnered with Community Health Center of Snohomish County and HealthPoint, which are still in need of 99 video-enabled devices running Android OS 8+ or iOS 11+. Monetary donations also allow us to buy affordable Android tablets, as well as missing chargers and shipping labels.

To make a device or monetary donation, please visit www.telehealthforseniors.org/support-us. A nearby volunteer will coordinate contactless pickup with you for any donated devices. If you’d like to contribute through our GoFundMe fundraiser, please select “Washington TeleHealth A4S” under the “Referred by” section to ensure your donation goes to Washington clinics.

Telehealth will remain a valuable tool even after the pandemic, as research shows it can greatly reduce the burden of traveling to a provider’s office while being just as effective as an in-person consultation. Our work to reduce barriers to telehealth will continue to be important, and we need your help to do so!

Thank you in advance for supporting our work!

Sincerely,

Nhu H. Nguyen, Edmonds
Kathleen A. Li, Redmond
Grace Q. Chen Bellevue
Washington State Co-Leads, TeleHealth Access for Seniors